This invention is related to piezoelectric materials and, more particularly, to 3-1 and 3-2 phase connected PZT-polymer composites for transducer applications and the like.
A widely used piezoelectric transducer is made from solid lead zirconate titanate (PZT) which is a dense (density 7.9 grams per cc) ceramic with high dielectric permittivity (.epsilon..sub.33). However, solid PZT is a poor transducer material in some respects as coefficients such as piezoelectric voltage coefficients g.sub.33 and g.sub.h are low due to high dielectric permittivity .epsilon..sub.33. The coefficients d.sub.h which is the difference between d.sub.33 and twice d.sub.31 is also low. It is thus desirable to have transducer materials which have high hydrostatic piezoelectric voltage coefficient g.sub.h and product d.sub.h g.sub.h used as a figure of merit for hydrophone applications.